Al-Sweady Report: British soldiers cleared of torture and murder after bloody Iraq battle

Fierce fighting: a British soldier with Iraqi national guards near Basra in 2004

Claims that British soldiers tortured and murdered Iraqi prisoners were today dismissed as based on deliberate lies, ingrained hostility and reckless speculation.

A five-year inquiry cleared UK forces of the alleged atrocities said to have been carried out after a fierce ditch-by-ditch gun battle in southern Iraq.

It found all of the most serious allegations against the soldiers at the Battle of Danny Boy and afterwards were totally without foundation.

However, the Al-Sweady Report did conclude there were some instances of “relatively minor” mistreatment of detainees including by having their sight restricted almost continuously, being subjected to tactical questioning involving harsh techniques, not being provided with adequate food, being made to undress completely for a medical check and weapons search, and being prevented from sleeping for up to four hours at a military camp.

A string of other allegations of ill-treatment, though, were rejected including of assaults, a lack of adequate medical care, the use of “white noise” and withholding drinking water.

The inquiry, which cost £31 million, was chaired by former High Court judge Sir Thayne Forbes who concluded that the overall approach of detainees and other Iraqi witnesses in giving their evidence was “both unprincipled in the extreme and wholly without regard for the truth”.

Venting fury in military circles against Public Interest Lawyers for its role representing Iraqis in the case, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: “Regrettably a public inquiry was necessary to put to rest false allegations that were championed by two law firms at great expense to the taxpayer.”

Defence top brass are angry over the “shameful” delay before the lawyers this spring withdrew allegations of murder and mutilation of bodies. PIL defended the inquiry as “legally necessary, morally justified and politically required”, saying it had found that on a number of occasions Geneva Convention provisions had been breached.

But the 1,250–page report is a damning verdict on the core allegations including that detainees were innocent bystanders. One said he had gone on a 14-kilometre round trip to buy yoghurt.

Instead, the inquiry found that it was “very likely” they were insurgents whose names were found on a list of members or volunteers of a group with close links to a Shia militia.

Each detainee was found to have told “deliberate lies” in their explanation as to why they were at the battle site around a vehicle checkpoint on the Basra to Al-Amarah road on May 14, 2004. Local doctors “recklessly” recorded findings of torture, which were not true, on death certificates.

The inquiry probed claims that soldiers tortured and executed up to 20 prisoners after a four-hour gun battle. Reports that bayonets were used were inaccurate.

The investigation was named after one of the men allegedly unlawfully killed, Hamid Al-Sweady but Sir Thayne concluded he died on the battlefield.

Three soldiers made allegations of assault by fellow UK troops on the battlefield but the inquiry rejected their claims. It made nine recommendations to improve the handling of prisoners.